


Existence Everlasting

by PopiaSimp



Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: Black Plague, Copia's a vampire, Dracopia, Other, The reader's his soulmate, also covid, gender neutral reader, this is written weirdly for me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 12:42:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29874834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PopiaSimp/pseuds/PopiaSimp
Summary: Copia meets his soulmate, and loses them, and nearly his own life, to a plague unlike any other... but they'll come back to him. They'll always come back to him, no matter how long it takes.
Relationships: Cardinal Copia/Reader
Kudos: 3





	Existence Everlasting

**Author's Note:**

> Okay first off, this is a fanfic, not a history essay, don't come @ me for inaccuracies, I refuse to study catholicism for a fanfic.  
> Secondly, this is written weirdly compared to my normal stuff? I wrote this in one sitting and I didn't proofread it super hard so don't mind anything... fucky.  
> Third, yes copia's trans, copia's always trans, just because it's not mentioned doesn't mean shit.  
> Fourth, this was kind of based on life eternal! the lyrics kinda seem. like this kind of concept.
> 
> CW for blood, plague, drowning, dying of the plague, sad times in general

A man outcast by his family wanders the streets, alone. It was the dead of night, and the only steps hitting the pavement beyond his own were those of the rats skittering along, almost… following him.

He passes by a shop, candles still lit in the windows, and his steps falter. Every other building had the shutters closed by now, locked tight to keep their stock safe. But this… bakery, it seemed, was either forgotten, or whoever was inside lost track of time.   
  
“Hello?” he called, and heard a surprised yelp from inside the building. “If there is anyone in here, you should close your shutters.. Something undesirable might come inside.”

You rounded the corner of the counter that blocked the back of your family’s shop, covered in flour and wiping your hands free of any remaining dough. “I, um… I usually leave them open for the breeze, at night… I have to prepare the dough for mother to bake in the morning, and we usually don’t have problems with anything--”

You were cut off by a squeaking sound as a rat scaled the wall and sat itself on the windowsill, looking at you expectantly. You, much to your family’s chagrin, had befriended a few of the little creatures. A bread heel was extracted from the pocket of your shirt, which you handed the little critter. It grabbed the stale bread and took off running, both you and the strange man in the window watching it scamper off. 

“Most would say the rats are a problem, but it seems they enjoy your company as well.” he says to you, and you clear your throat as you look up to meet his gaze. “I am sorry to scare you, and to interrupt your work. I wanted to make sure nothing was lost to someone more tempted to steal than I.”

It takes you a moment to realize that you don’t recognize this man. You knew almost everyone in town, thanks to this bakery, but… it seems new faces were still around to surprise you. As he turns to leave, you make a sound, not quite able to get out the ‘Wait’ that you’d meant to. He turns, with a raised eyebrow, to meet your gaze again. 

“What, um… what is your name?” you ask, and in the candlelight, you catch one corner of his mouth twitch up. He bows softly and says “My name is Copia. A pleasure to meet you.”

You repeat the name to yourself, and smile to him. “If you come back in the morning, Copia, you may be lucky enough to get the first loaf of the day.” 

He returns your smile, and bows again, returning “I would sooner die than miss that chance."

Copia returned the next morning, and in fact, he came back every morning after that.

For  _ three years. _

You grew closer to him, and eventually, you started to fall for him. He courted you properly, in order to please your parents… one of his gifts was a  _ beautiful _ gold and ruby necklace, the pendant always catching the light so beautifully that you swore it was too pretty a piece of jewelry for you to own. His tone was the same every time he replied to that thought.   
  
_ “Nonsense.  _ **_Your_ ** _ beauty is what brings out that of the pendant. Not the other way around. Si?” _

You long to hear that tone from him again… to hear him speak in anything but a pained whisper… you had caught the violent illness running rampant through your village, and the way he acted made it seem like  _ he _ was the one in your amount of agony… he was doing his best to take care of you, but you could tell he had fallen ill as well…

“C… Co… pia…” you whine, the breath… bubbling past something that seemed to be filling your lungs…    
  
He looks down to you, your head in his lap as he tries to keep you comfortable, tries to do what little he can to help you. “S-Si, amore mia?” he strains, one hand on your hair while the other wipes tears from his eyes. 

You both know your time is coming… you weakly reach a hand up to him, and he takes it, bending down to press a kiss to the back of your palm. His face ends up buried in your hand to keep him from seeing your expression as you gasp for breath.

He stays there long after your body falls cold… and to save the only thing he has of you from being burned with your corpse, he lifts your stiff body to pull the pendant from you. A whimper of “Mi dispiace, amore mia…” leaves him as he shifts you.

It kills him to leave you there… but he has to go. He can’t… He can’t stay here until they take you from him… if he doesn’t go now…

He sobs as he runs from the house you’d shared, travelling as far as his feet can carry him. He gets sicker and sicker as the days pass, and he ends up on the side of a dirt road, nearing his own end with that pendant clutched to his chest as tightly as he can manage.

His consciousness falters, but it doesn’t end… in fact, he wakes up in an unfamiliar place, swaddled in the softest sheets, with a terrible pain in his neck. He sits up, and realizes that his last possession of you is gone, but before he can panic, he hears the chain jingle.

“Copia, si?” the figure across the room calls, clapping twice and watching the candles around the room flare to life. 

He startles at the sight, and clings to the sheets below him, asking “Who are you?”

“My name is unimportant. You, however… Congratulations are in order on being one of the lone survivors of a terrible plague.” they state, clapping softly, but that only draws Copia’s attention back to the necklace in their hands.   
  
“Give me that!” he snaps, attempting to push himself out of the bed he’d found himself in, but  _ something _ kept him still. Some heavy,  _ dark _ force. 

A low  _ tut tut tut _ comes from the dark corner of the room, the figure stepping out to show themself. A tall man, clad in a cloak that fell from shoulders to feet, appears from the shadows. “This necklace? I can feel the energy within the stone, here… tell me, what was their name?” he asks, and Copia stutters in response.

“You mean to tell me they had no name?” the taller asks, and Copia  _ hisses, _ and he catches himself off guard with the sound. The stranger laughs, and says “That is a side effect of your  _ new _ affliction… I would like to welcome you to my family, considering it is the only one you’ll have.”

“N… New… affliction…?” Copia asks, and finally brings a hand to rub at the dull throbbing in his neck. He looks from his.. Pale hands, up to the other man just as he bares  _ thick _ fangs.

The sound that leaves the smaller man is undignified, and the laugh that leaves the taller only scares him more. “Come now, tell me you haven’t heard the tales of the vampires in this area? Wandering travellers being put to death after leaving town and returning with a lust for blood…? Vagabonds being found drained of every ounce of blood?” the larger asks, still toying with the pendant in his hand.

“Those are fairy tales! Myths! Things parents tell their children to keep them in line.” Copia snaps, and struggles, once again, to try and get off of the bed. He can move, but it feels like he’s trapped in a thick void, struggling against a vat of mud to get out… Another chuckle sounds from the larger of the men.

“No, Copia… they are anything but myths. You are now living proof… or… as close to living as you could call one of us.” he replies, and he raises the pendant again. “Were they wearing this as they passed?”

Copia’s caught off guard for what had to be the tenth time in as many minutes, but he simply nods. That brings a hum from the larger figure, and he approaches the bed, holding the necklace out to the smaller. He immediately goes to grab for it, but it’s pulled out of reach before he can get close to it.

“Listen to me closely. Your beloved wore this as they passed on from this world, but that is not the last you will see of them. This necklace holds their energy, and should you put enough of your own into it, they will find you once more.” he says, finally letting Copia take the pendant, watching as he brings it to his chest and sighs  _ heavily. _   
  
Soon enough he’s sent on his way, learning the ways to survive in his condition. He holds his ‘father’s words close to his heart, and spends years upon years trying to find out if they were true… but after tw centuries, he gives up. Two hundred years and fifty spent walking this earth with no one but himself… he finally figures, hell. If he’s going to be alone for the rest of his existence, he may as well do something with his life.

He joins the church, spends certain years in certain cities, and then takes his leave to join another chapter with no trace of his identity. It passes another fifty years of his endless life, until he had met the title of Cardinal.

His duties around the church fulfilled him greatly, considering it was the only thing he had. He made the best of a bad situation, always having that pendant tucked into the pocket of his cassock. A quiet moment found him, and he reached into the pocket to look at the necklace, but his gloved hand met nothing but fabric.

_ And he fucking panicked. _

Copia ran through the halls, retracing his every step until he found himself in the chapel, which was empty, save for a churchgoer standing by a window, looking at something… 

Your attention was caught by the steps of the Cardinal, and you hurried over to him, giving a bow. “Cardinal! I found this lying on the floor by a pew, do you happen to know who it belongs to?” you ask, holding the necklace out before him. Copia’s eyes light up, and he takes it quickly, almost possessively, to which you yelp softly.

He pauses, and shakes his head, murmuring “I am… I am so sorry, my child, I… This pendant is very important to me.”

You shake your head, watching as he laid it across his gloved palm to show you it again. You reach out slowly, glancing up at him, almost to ask permission to touch it before you drag two fingers over the large ruby. “It’s very beautiful… I almost felt like it was… calling to me. Is it a family heirloom?” you ask, but your attention is caught by the gemstone…  _ glowing, _ under your fingers. Silence falls around you, an ache starting to form in your head. 

Copia shakes his head, but something in him is screaming to put the pendant on you. He slips it over your head and it settles around your neck. You bring a hand to it again, as the sunlight strikes the gem. The ache in your head gets angrier as you confusedly murmur “This pendant is far too pretty for me to wear…”

You retract your hand and bring it up to grasp your head, groaning as you’re… struck with… a vision…? You see… You see the Cardinal, sitting above you, staring down at you with all the love in the world in his eyes… you hear his voice, in the back of your head… you don’t realize you speak the words as they sound in your mind.

He speaks them at the same time you do.

“Nonsense…  **Your** beauty is what brings out that of the pendant… not the other way around… si?”

Tears spring to Copia’s eyes as he pulls you into a tight hug, and you don’t know  _ why, _ but you hug him back so tightly it hurts. You don’t realize you’re crying until he pulls back and wipes your tears, breathing “It is you… amore mia, you’ve returned to me…”

He pulls you to a private space, a small room off to the side that no one would go into without reason… he explains everything, and the feeling you get from his memories, where you would usually find them as insane ramblings from a man likely to lose his mind… something in you knows it to be true. Even… the vampire part… but there’s one large problem.

Copia is a Cardinal of the church. Even if you wanted to marry, he couldn’t… and your relationship would have to be secret. But luckily, it seems in this life, your family wasn’t as accepting of you. You’d been on your own for years, so it was easy to make yourself a secret live in lover for your soulmate. 

This life, however, was just as short lived as your last. You spend a few lovely years together before you succumb to the same plague that ended your first life. And at this, Copia denounces his faith. What God could give him his soulmate,  _ twice, _ only to kill them with the very same plague?

He vanishes, for ages… still holding his own infection, and your pendant. At points, he wears it himself, through the years, to feel close to you… another three hundred years pass, and he finds himself hopeful that you’d return then as you had before, but nothing happens. He gives up as he had before, and once again, turns to religion. Though this church is the polar opposite of those he’d been bound to before.

Instead of catholicism, he chooses satanism. The Emeritus church was happy to take him in, and he finds himself feeling more at home here than he had before. They even have their own shop in the nearby town, full of cursed oddities that drive those who buy them to convert and join the church. It draws quite a crowd, those who want to challenge the things they hear, or find out how good the church is for themselves. 

He worked his way up through that church as well, much faster than he had before. But he sits pretty at his previous rank once again. At least he gets a good amount of employee of the month awards… second place in amount received.

Eventually, he grows tired of carrying that pendant in his pocket. The weight only reminds him of how lonely he is, and he can’t take it anymore. He places it in the care of the oddity shop, and tells the Ghoul in charge of it to notify him if someone claims it calls to them. But along with that, he put a spell on it… one that would recognize the energy of his soulmate, should they ever return to him.

He forgets about it more often than not… its home is in a case in a store in town, and it’s looked over for nearly a decade… until…

Along your typical shopping trip, you ran into someone coming from the shop you’d always heard to stay away from. But you felt something pulling at you even from outside, so you went in. It was full of weird antique looking furniture and odd… things, floating in jars… the odd looking guy behind the counter looked at you impatiently as you browsed, but his attention went elsewhere as you started getting closer to him. 

His eyes were locked on something under the glass counter, and as you approached, you saw it was an  _ impressive _ sized ruby on a gold chain, probably the prettiest thing you’d ever seen. Based on the style, you guessed it was old, but you had no idea how old it actually was. It almost looks like it’s glowing, and the tap of a long nail on the glass catches your attention. Your eyes flick up to meet the other’s, and he says “You gonna buy somethin’ or stare all day?”

You look back down to the necklace and sigh softly, mumbling “I doubt I have enough for that necklace. It’s gorgeous… it’s like it’s calling my name, yknow??” You bring a hand up to rub at your chest, just where the pendant would sit, while your other hand ‘strokes’ the necklace through the glass. It only looks like it’s glowing more, and the guy on the other side of the counter clears his throat to get you to look back up to him.

“Lemme make a call.” he says, and steps away from the counter. He’s barely gone five minutes before he comes back with a man trailing behind him, clad in a red suit and looking like he was about to have a heart attack. You try to focus on the  _ clearly _ younger one of the two, asking “Is this the owner or something?? Did I--”

Copia makes some odd sound at the Ghoul, scrambled ‘words’ leaving him as he tries to hurry him through opening the case and retrieving the necklace. The smaller man hands it to Copia, who holds it out to you, an  _ anxious  _ smile on his face as he says “Try it on, please.”

You’re pretty sketched out, if you’re honest, but if anything goes wrong, you can book it with an expensive necklace, so you take it from him. The second you do, something  _ clicks _ inside of you, and you don’t even realize you’re putting the necklace on until you feel the metal on your chest. Not only does it start glowing even more, but it starts  _ humming. _ You can’t even tell what’s going on, can’t see that Copia’s on the verge of tears, or that the Ghoul is watching with a shit eating grin…

Your hand comes up to grab at the ruby, your other hand on your head as you ask “What the fuck is going on??” Something feels weird in your head, but it’s…  _ familiar, _ this  _ situation _ is familiar… and Copia clears his throat to shakily ask “Tell me.. What do you think of the necklace?”

It takes a moment, but you glance down at it, and for what you don’t know is the third time, you say “This is… way too pretty for me to own…” You look back up to Copia just as tears start to stream down his cheeks, muddying the paint around his eyes in the process.

“Nonsense.  **Your** beauty is what brings out that of the pendant.” he starts, and you interrupt, eyes locked with his in pure confusion.

“Not the other way around… what… why is that…” you sigh, but this whole situation, the feeling in your head, it’s too much. You try to take a step forward and stumble, ending up falling onto something soft, but you aren’t conscious to figure out what. 

When you come to, you’re in an unfamiliar place, but you aren’t afraid… you’re staring up at the ceiling, which is  _ way _ higher than any you’ve seen before, and it almost makes you nauseous to think about. You push yourself up off the hard, cold surface you’re on, and… you’re in… a church???   
  
There are two other people sitting on two separate pews, and they stand once they see you sit up. You’re on some sort of altar, and… they’re coming up to stand in front of you…

One looks like they’re from  _ way _ long ago, like.. Medieval times. The other looks a bit more advanced, but still ancient compared to current times… they’re pale, and you can feel some… some familiar energy coming from them. It takes you a minute, but you finally ask “Where am I?”

The older looking one smiles, stating “You’re safe. You don’t have to worry.” 

The other sighs softly and brings their hand up to fiddle with the necklace,  _ THE _ necklace, resting on their chest. You realize that they’re both wearing it, and.. You are too. 

“Why do we all have this on…?” you ask, and the second person speaks up.

“He gave it to me. To us.” they say softly, and their voice sounds  _ a lot like yours. _

“Who?? That.. That dude in the suit?” you ask, and they nod.

“His name is Copia.”   
“Cardinal Copia.”   
“He’s…”

You hold your hands up and run them through your hair, rubbing at your head. “Why does this matter to me? Who are you two???”

“We’re you. Your past selves, and Copia is our soulmate…”   
“Third time’s the charm, huh? I hope it goes well…”  
“Even if it doesn’t--”

You interrupt them again, shaking your head. “What are you talking about??? Both of you look like you’re from  _ WAY _ in the past, how is he alive if he was your soulmate? My…? Soulmate? …..whatever… just.. What the fuck is happening?”

They snicker for a second, and one steps forward, pressing their fingers to their necklace, and to yours. They close their eyes, and you feel yours close, almost against your will. Memories flash before you, looking from their perspective.

Handing Copia a warm loaf of bread out of the shutter of your family’s bakery, and watching him tear off the ends for the rats.  
Sitting at the edge of town with him and looking up to the stars, both of you commenting on how they twinkled like the other’s eyes, and then laughing at the fact that you had the same thought.  
Getting that necklace from him, and hearing those words out of his mouth for the  _ first _ time….  
...dying, in his arms… the last sight before you slipped away was his broken expression as he tried to keep himself together for you…

They step back, and before you can even open your eyes, the second person steps forward and does as the first did… more memories.

Meeting Copia in the church, and hearing those words again when you put on the necklace.  
The explanation, and how he talked with his hands, how you kept looking at his gloves and wondering if you would remember what it felt like to hold his hand.  
Moving into his home in the middle of the night so no one would see you, as if you had many belongings in the first place.  
Spending every night snuggled up with him, limbs tangled together as he ran his cold hands through your hair…  
...and dying in his arms,  _ again… _ that same expression on his face as he tried to hold himself together.

You couldn’t open your eyes. You kept trying, and you kept trying to feel around for something around you, but the world was empty, now… you just heard a voice, calling for you… when you finally pried your eyes open, you sucked in a breath as if it was your first, and the one that would save your life… another unfamiliar place, but there was a hand holding yours, tightly… familiarly…

You looked over, brushing your hair out of your face as you were met with a half familiar gaze… at some point, one of his eyes had turned white, but the other was just as green as it had always been… and you felt  _ so safe _ with him.

“Copia…” you breathed, and tears fly to his eyes and down his face once again. He presses his lips to the back of your palm, in the  _ same _ spot he always had…

“Amore mia… you came back to me...  _ again… _ ” he sighs, pressing his forehead to your hand. 

So here you were. You moved in with him yet again, this time, into the abbey hosting the populus of a satanic church, and this time, you had no plans of dying of some plague. You were by his side through everything, through him taking the place of the pope before him, through being crowned a pope himself… and then, a new plague came upon the world.    
  
He did his best to keep you away from it, glued to your side day in and day out. But his best wasn’t enough. You came down with it anyways, and while it wasn’t the black plague, it was still  _ rough. _ Copia only grew more and more anxious as you got sicker and sicker, and he found himself praying more and more for you… but it wasn’t enough.

He was on his knees at the side of the bed, both hands gripping yours as you lay there, limply. A hellish cough wracked your form, and he choked back a sob at the sound of it, looking over you as your head flopped to the side to look at him… at least this time, you had a sense of humor…

“Who… w-would have thought… I’d die from…  _ two different _ plagues…” you wheeze out, and you notice his eyes aren’t on yours. You squeeze his hand weakly, and his two toned gaze finally meets yours. “What’re.. You lookin’ at…?”

He sighs softly, one hand coming to rub his eyes. He’d stopped putting on his paint recently, finding himself crying too much to keep it pristine as he needed… He chokes back another sob at a particularly sharp wheeze before he says “P-Please… a-amore, l-let me… let me save you from this… from ever.. L-leaving me again…” 

You furrow your eyebrows, and he bares his fangs, adding “Please… I.. I cannot lose you again…”

You weigh your options for a short minute. Die of a third plague and risk whatever would happen in the next hundreds of years that it takes for you to come back, or be free of the pain you’re feeling, and never have to lose Copia again? It’s a really obvious choice… one you wish you’d thought of before… all you do in response is lift your head up, and this time, he lets out the sob instead of forcing it down.

He pushes himself up, leaning in to press his lips to yours, first. Once he pulls back, he murmurs “Ti amo…” before he presses another kiss to your forehead. His hands leave yours to take the weight of your head away from you, a finger curling under your jaw to expose your neck.

A third kiss is pressed to the skin where your neck meets your shoulder, and a shaky sigh leaves him as he breathes “Join me, my love.”

The  _ pain _ of his fangs sinking into your neck draws a groan from you, which grows to an agonized shriek as they only sink further and  _ further _ in. He stays still for a moment, taking in a deep breath before he pulls away, sitting back up and looking over you.

He lays with you and watches the color drain from your skin over the next hours, doing his best to keep you comfortable as you turn. It’s not too much worse than what you were dealing with earlier, but it  _ stung… _

By the time morning rolled around, you cracked your eyes open, his mismatched eyes waiting patiently for you to turn and look at him. Once you did, he sighed softly, running a hand through your hair. For once.. For the first time in a long, long time, he actually felt warmer than you.

“Good morning, amore mia.” he purrs, and you snuggle up to him, throwing your limbs around him and squeezing him tightly.

“The first of a million mornings…” you yawn, and he only chuckles, pressing a kiss to your forehead. 

You never had to lose each other again.


End file.
